Advent 2022 - December 1st - December 6th

Hello again my lovelies, I am returned from our trip to Wales, and celebrating Stephen's birthday.  We've had a few days to recover since we got back, and now it's time to show you how our advent is progressing so far.

Let's start with a little bit about our holiday:

Beautiful holiday cottage in Wales

This is where we stayed, a gorgeous little cottage just outside of Llanwrst.  The weather was cold, but dry and sunny, the grounds that we had permission to roam at will were stunning, the view in every direction was beautiful, and we were less than an hours drive from many castles, and the seaside, and right on the edge of Snowdonia National Park.

Cocker Spaniel on the beach

We were literally spoiled for choice in all of the places that we could choose to visit, but to be honest, what we mostly needed from this holiday was a break from routine chores and household stresses.  So with all of the castles of North Wales to choose from, we decided to spend Stephen's birthday meandering around Llandudno, taking Finn to the beach, and getting Fish and Chips for dinner.  It was perfect!

Yarn and sticks

As Wales is famous for its sheep, I figured there must be a decent yarn shop somewhere nearby, and I was correct!  In Llandudno there is a brilliant little place called Ewe Felty Thing.  They allowed us to bring Finn inside, and happily let me poke and smoosh to my hearts content.  In the end, as I didn't want to go crazy, I picked up a couple of locally hand dyed DK mini-skeins, a ball of black West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4-ply, because it's harder to find than you think, a 4mm crochet hook, as I'd failed to bring one with me, and I wanted to start crocheting up those mini-skeins straight away, and I took advantage of there being 2.5mm 80cm wooden circulars, and bought a couple for my stockpile.

They had Christmas mystery parcels all made up too, which Stephen took advantage of to be stocking fillers for me!  Great for him, because he doesn't even have to wrap them!

Cake, and the view from Harlech Castle

We didn't spend the whole holiday lazing around in the cottage, or buying yarn, we did also visit Harlech Castle, which is possibly the neatest castle I've ever been to.  I would have liked to be able to climb up to the top of the walls, but there's not a chance that I could have managed, Stephen struggled enough!  Besides, dogs are only allowed on the main level, so I remained on comparatively level ground with Finn, while Stephen explored on his own.  I'll find out all of the bits I missed from the guide book at a later date!

A gatehouse in Conwy City walls

On our final day we had a fairly leisurely stroll around Conwy city walls.  We would very much love to visit the castle itself at some point, but firstly it's HUGE, and definitely needs a full day dedicated to it, and secondly only assistance dogs are permitted inside.  Finn may be therapeutic, and even helpful, in many ways, but he doesn't have the necessary training to be an assistance dog.

All considered, it was a lovely holiday, and exactly what we needed.  Most importantly, none of us suffered any potentially life altering injuries or illnesses, which is a distinct improvement on last year!

Advent 2022

So now it's time to find out what has been behind those little secret doors so far this year!

I should say, I decided to leave opening any doors on my 12 days of yarn calendar until 12 days before Christmas, so there won't be any of those just yet.

December 1st

Railway Children

Advent of Change: My donation this day went to the Railway Children. "Today you have helped to pay for a school uniform and books, giving the opportunity of education to a street child in Tanzania."

December 1st advent contents

Lindt: A little gold reindeer chocolate.

English Tea Co.:  Gingerbread Treat tea.

Northern Waxes:  Gingerbread wax melt.

Mint and Mustard Dice:  Transparent Green, blue, and purple D12, with white gothic script.

Close up of the 12 sided die in better light

You can't tell just how beautiful the colours of this particular die are unless you hold it up to the light, then you can see all the subtle variations!

Lily's Kitchen: 3 little bone shaped cheese and apple training treats.

Finn in Good Boy Pose, awaiting treats

Golden Book escape room calendar: I can't really show you this one, as each day is a riddle to solve that tells you which door to open next, and it's Stephen's calendar, so he is the one solving the riddles!  I confess, I'm more than a little envious, as it looks like fun!  

Stephen solving advent riddles

December 2nd

Marine Conservation Society

Advent of Change: My donation this day went to the Marine Conservation Society.  "Today you have equipped a volunteer with all they need to take part in a beach clean and survey, clearing litter and plastic pollution to protect our shores."

December 2nd advent contents

Lindt: Square of chocolate, with a snowman picture.

English Tea Co.: Ghostly Green tea.

Northern Waxes: Blackcurrant and Liquorice wax melt.

Mind and Mustard Dice: Pearlised white D6, with gold numbers.

Lily's Kitchen: 2 rise and shine flower shaped treats.

"I'm so hungry! I've never eaten ever!"

December 3rd

Baby Lifeline

Advent of Change: This day's donation went to Baby Lifeline.  "Today you have helped provide vital equipment for a midwife in Ukraine, helping them deliver a baby safely in a shelter."

December 3rd advent contents

Lindt: Square of chocolate, with a sleigh picture.

English Tea Co.: White Wonderland tea.

Northern Waxes: Candy cane wax melt

Mind and Mustard Dice: Transparent clear, yellow, and pink D12, with gold glitter, and gold numbers.

Close up of this 12-sided die 

Lily's Kitchen: 3 cheese and apple training treats.

Doggy in his dressing gown, waiting for treats.

December 4th

Rainbow Trust

Advent of Change: This day's donation went to the Rainbow Trust.  "Today you have given the mum of a seriously ill child some much-needed time for herself, while a Family Support Worker sits and plays with her son.

December 4th advent contents

Lindt: Small milk and white chocolate truffle.

English Tea Co.: Festive Spice tea.

Northern Waxes: Black Opium wax melt.

Mind and Mustard Dice: Opaque white, yellow, and purple D20, with gold numbers.

Lily's Kitchen: 2 rise and shine flower shaped treats.

"Feed me now daddy!"

December 5th

pdsa

Advent of Change: This day's donation went to the PDSA.  "Today you have helped fund life-saving treatment for a vulnerable pet."

December 5th advent contents

Lindt: Square of chocolate, with a snowman picture.

English Tea Co.: Winter Warmer tea.

Northern Waxes: Apple and Cinnamon wax melt.

Mind and Mustard Dice: Transparent blue, green, and purple D10, with white gothic script.

Close up of this 10-sided die

I'm sorry that this is a terrible photo, but my camera really wanted to focus on the background! This die matches the D12 from Day 1, but that's really difficult to tell in this photo!

Lily's Kitchen: 2 Bedtime Biscuits.  These are supposed to be calming.  I have yet to see much evidence of calm!

"I'm such a Good Boy! Please give me treats!"

Golden Book escape room calendar:  Stephen found this riddle a little frustrating.  I think he would have worked it out soon enough on his own, although I think anyone with red/green colour blindness would seriously struggle, but I enjoyed having a go and helping out.  Finn tried to "help" too...

"Does your advent box have treatos too daddy?"

December 6th

Cavell Nurses Trust

Advent of Change: Today's donation went to the Cavell Nurses Trust.  "Today you have helped a healthcare assistant on a low income cover repairs to their car, enabling them to continue working."

I have to add my own little bit to this, and remind anyone reading that we live in the developed world. In the 6th largest economy in the world. How on earth are we in the dire state where people working in essential roles cannot afford the absolute basics?  From travel to work, to food for their kids?  Remember just a couple of years ago we were all stood on our doorsteps clapping every Thursday night to demonstrate to exactly these same people how much we appreciated the work that they do.  Apparently our government appreciates them enough to ride on the popularity of that empty gesture, but not enough to pay Key Workers enough to live on, or enough to attract sufficient staff that every single one of them is burned out and struggling. 

We're in this situation because we have a Prime Minister who is PROUD of taking money away from social services and public transport in deprived areas, in order to fund garden maintenance and extra dog poo bins in privileged areas, and because we've had over 12 years of Prime Ministers who believe exactly the same.

It's not rocket science people... #LikelyPreachingToTheChoir

./Political Rant

December 6th advent contents

Lindt: Square of chocolate with a squirrel picture.

English Tea Co.: Super Star Anise tea.

Northern Waxes: Snow Fairy wax melt.

Mind and Mustard Dice: Pearlised D20 with gold numbers.  This die matched the D6 from Day 2.

Lily's Kitchen: 3 cheese and apple training treats.

"Sofa is too comfy, I do Good Boy Pose here?"

Some Regular Stuff

WIPs

Half a sock

I have not made a lot of progress on anything since my last regular update.  I suppose it's not been that long really, but normally I would have done more than this!  I didn't get nearly as much knitting done in the car during our holiday as I'd intended, because I was mostly navigating, and the route was completely unfamiliar, plus there was a lot less motorway driving than we're accustomed to.  I didn't get much knitting done in the cottage, because I spent most of the time working on writing detailed back story for my current RPG character - Linnea. Then I haven't got much done since we got back home because I've had my usual Post-Exertional Malaise, so I've been either asleep, or too fatigued to do anything beyond stare blankly at my phone or the TV.

So then, this is Stephen's sock so far.

The yarn is Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball, in the colourway "Herbstwind".

Granny Square in progress

The lighting in the cottage at night wasn't great, so neither is this photo of me crocheting with one of the mini-skeins I'd bought in Llandudno, but at least it proves that I did get a little bit of crafting done while we were away!

It's just a plain, simple granny square, using yarn that I only know is DK merino, and was hand dyed in Wales.

Penguins!

I mean, there had to be holiday penguins, right?

There's actually one missing from this post, and I'm hoping that the reason I can't find it to photograph it is that it's still in the back of Stephen's car...

Cuddly plush penguin

We planned to go into Llandudno on our way to the cottage to find a supermarket and buy food for the week. Stephen was pretty tired from the drive down, as due to the time of year, and the fact that we were heading South and West, the sun had basically been right in his eyes for the entire journey.  So we figured it would be easier for me to go in and just get stuff for breakfast in the morning, plus a few other bits and bobs, while he stayed with Finn in the car (Read: fell asleep on the steering wheel for 15 minutes).

This left me unsupervised in an unfamiliar supermarket right before Christmas...

I suppose things could have been much worse, I only got this cuddly little fellow.

And these:

Penguin Tea Towels

I maintain that our current collection of tea towels are well past their best, and we needed a couple more anyway.  If I just happened to find some with penguins on, well that is just an added bonus, right?

Now I just need to hope that we discover the bag of stuff we bought in Conwy somewhere, then I can show you my final Welsh Penguin.

I think that's us all up to date!  So I'll be back in a day or so with more little advent presents.  Take care my dears.

2022 Pre-Advent - Plus Easy On/Easy Off Dog Coat Pattern

Hello again my dears.  Hopefully, for you it's been just a few days since I wrote my last update.  For me, it's been about an hour, but I want to get as much of this post written in advance as I can.

Before I start, I have a confession to make - I missed off a stash entry in my last post.  In my defence, I missed it off because I'd forgotten to record it on Ravelry, and I only realised when I was tidying up the photo reel on my phone, and came across the picture I took on the day it arrived.  I guess I must have been really busy, and just took the photo, then put the yarn away, and then got distracted and never recorded it.

Anyway, this is the yarn:

4 pink, yellow, and purple mini-skeins

As you can probably tell, this is a Made by Penguins Yarnologist club box, and also explains why in my last post there was no club box after September!  This is the October and November yarn, plus added stickers and stitch markers.

So, now that I have righted that wrong, I'm going to do something that I've never done before, and that is publish a free knitting pattern right here on this page.  It's not a pattern that I ever really intended to write up, but recently someone contacted me asking where I'd found the pattern, so I thought maybe there would be some interest if I made it available.

Easy on/Easy off Dog Coat

I don't know about anyone else, but personally I find getting most garments designed for dogs on and off very difficult.  Finn isn't the most resistant pup in the world, but neither is he especially keen or cooperative when it comes to putting "clothes" on him!

However, being a cocker spaniel, he grows very long fur on his belly, especially when it's getting close to time for a visit to the groomers.  Also, being a cocker spaniel, he likes to get muddy!  So it is useful, when taking a walk through muddy fields is unavoidable, to be able to get a coat on him that covers his belly.  This is why I created this pattern in the first place.

Cocker Spaniel in a red knitted coat

The back of the coat is knit in a super bulky yarn with a reflective strand running through it, which makes it very noticeable in car headlights, or torch light.  The neck, belly, and trim are all knit in a plain super bulky yarn.  The specific yarns that I used are Schachenmayr Lumio, in the colourway "00032", and King Cole Big Value Chunky, in colourway "554".  Finn measures 60cm around his ribcage, and 60cm from just above his shoulder blades, to the base of his tail.  I used exactly one ball of the Lumio, and less than half a ball of the Big Value Chunky.

I used 6mm needles for the ribbing, knit in Big Value Chunky, and achieved a gauge of 18 stitches by 16 rows creating a 10cm (4") square.

I used 8mm needles for the stockinette and cable pattern, knit in Lumio, and achieved a gauge in stockinette of 9 stitches by 13 rows creating a 10cm (4") square.

You will also need 4 - 6 buttons, large enough to stay securely fastened.  The buttons I used at first, which are the ones in the photo above, turned out to be too small, and they came un fastened when Finn was running about.  I ended up replacing them with buttons roughly 3.5cm in diameter.

I have estimated numbers for slightly smaller, and slightly larger dogs, but I must stress that I have not tested this pattern in those sizes, so I cannot guarantee that the numbers are entirely accurate.  I would expect that given the amount of stretch in knitted fabric in general, and the ribbing of the belly panel in particular, that size Small would fit a dog with a chest circumference of approximately 35 - 55cm, Medium would fit a chest circumference of approximately 55 - 75cm, and Large would fit a chest circumference of approximately 75-95cm.

Using the same yarn that you intend to use for the belly panel, and a moderately stretchy cast on (I used a standard long-tail cast on), cast on 40/60/80 (S/M/L) stitches.

Join in the round, and knit K1, P1 rib for 12 rounds.

Switch to Main colour, and 8mm needles.

Knit 30/45/60 stitches.  You will now work these stitches flat.  Put the remaining stitches onto a stitch holder, or spare yarn.

Purl 1 row.

*Knit 13/21/28 stitches, C4F, knit to end of row.

Knit 5 rows in stockinette.*

Repeat from * to * until past your dog's elbow. Your next knit row will be your first button hole row.

K2, YO, K2tog, work in pattern as established to 4sts before end of row, SSK, YO,K2.

Work a button hole row every 4th row twice more, unless your pup has a short ribcage, in which case once more should be sufficient.  Continue to work the cable pattern every 6 rows, as established until you reach 14/15/16cm shorter than your total desired length.

K3, K2tog, work to 5 stitches before the end of the row, SSK, K3.

Purl 1 row.

Repeat last 2 rows 5/6/7 more times.

Switch to belly panel colour.  Work in K1, P1 rib for 12 more rows, then bind off.

Place held stitches back on 6mm needles, and continue working in K1, P1 rib until level with the first buttonhole on the back panel.

Cast on 6 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows.  Work these 6 extra stitches either side of the belly panel in garter stitch, but continue to work the centre part of the panel in 1&1 rib.

Continue until the belly panel is just longer than your pup's ribcage, then bind off.

Weave in all loose ends, and sew buttons onto the garter stitch edges of the belly panel so that they meet the buttonholes when the coat is being worn.

Congratulations!  You now have a dog coat!

If you do happen to knit this, please let me know how it turns out!  

Advent Adventure 2022

Now it's time to introduce you to this year's selection of advent calendars!  

I'm afraid there's a lot less yarn here than there usually is in my Advent Adventures, but being honest with myself, I don't think I really need any more mini-skeins, no matter how beautiful they may be.

My personal advent calendar selection

It has now been 7 years since my advent blogging adventures began, with a single yarny advent calendar by Opal.  Since then I've tried so many different advent calendars!  In 2019, the year I lost my dad, I went utterly crazy and had 12 different countdown calendars!

I seem to have settled down to my core favourites now, with something I've never seen before now and then.  So let's see what we have this year...

Lindt chocolate advent calendar

The traditional chocolate calendar.  

Our favourite Lindt version.  We tried a different version last year, but we like this one better.

Advent of Change calendar

The Advent of Change charity advent calendar.  

I first discovered this 4 years ago, and I love this idea so much! A little bit of feel good every day, as you learn which charities have benefited from you buying this calendar.

What could be better than an advent calendar that gives to those who need it most, doesn't contribute to your inevitable Christmas weight gain, and is 100% recyclable?

Northern Waxes wax melt calendar

The lovely smells calendar. 

I couldn't properly enjoy the Northern Waxes calendar that I got last year, as the essential oil vapour seemed to irritate Stephen's injured eye.  I ended up with Christmas scents in my burner in the middle of June!  This year it will be so lovely to have a house that feels, and smells like Christmas during December!

Cuddlebums 12 days of yarn

The yarn calendar.

There is a little bit of yarn, just not very much.  This is the Cuddlebums 12 days of Christmas calendar, but I shall open it during Advent.  I haven't yet decided if I will open one door every alternate day, or if I will not open any doors until after December 12th.  I have a few days yet to decide.

It's also only 5g micro-skeins.  Enough to make squares for my mitred squares blanket, but not with much left over.  That's all I need though.

English Tea Shop minimal packaging calendar

The tea calendar.

While I loved the design of last years English Tea Shop advent calendar, and it was almost entirely made of cardboard, so easy to recycle, I am really pleased to find that this year they've made a minimal packaging version.  There's no more packaging here than there would be in an ordinary pack of teabags.  Instead of opening a little door each day, you slide the next paper envelope out of a slot at the bottom of the box, so tomorrow's flavour remains a surprise without the need for complex individual compartments.  It's perfect!

Mint and Mustard Dice calendar

The Random something different calendar.

If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that I'm a rampant geek. Every Saturday we get together with friends, and Stephen becomes our Game Master, leading us as we play characters of our own invention through epic adventures in fantastical worlds of his own creation, all conducted in the Theatre of the Mind, using dice to determine the success or failure of many of our endeavours.  You've probably heard of Dungeons and Dragons.  This is not D&D, or at least the game we've been playing for the last few years isn't, but it is very similar.  

The dice, especially those with more, or less than 6 sides, are more than just the random element in our adventures.  They have become a symbol across the table top role playing game community of our shared nerdiness. A nerdiness that we are 100% proud of.  Most TTRPG nerds collect dice.

This advent calendar by Mint and Mustard has a die behind every door, 4-sided, 6-sided, 8-sided, 10-sided, 12-sided, and 20-sided dice.  I look forward to them joining my personal collection.

"Escape Room" advent calendar

Stephen's calendar.

Stephen gets a chocolate advent calendar as well, but I like to try and get something a bit more interesting if I can find anything suitable.  This year I discovered that Escape Room calendars are a thing.  Basically, each day there is a puzzle to solve, and you need to solve the puzzle before you can move on to the next day.  I believe that the story in this version is that the Golden Book, in which all of the names of the Good little children are listed telling Santa Claus where to deliver presents, has been stolen, and you have to find it before Christmas Eve in order to save Christmas for all the little kiddies.

I will try to get Stephen to keep me up to date with how this goes, and share his comments in my updates.

Doggy advent calendar

Finn's calendar.

This is different than the advent calendar we've previously got for Finn, but I thought I'd try something new, and this is highly rated on a lot of doggy websites.  I'm certain that Finn won't mind!

That my dears, is us completely up to date, and prepared for this December's Advent Adventure!  I shall update you all again when we return from our long awaited holiday.  Take care my lovelies.

Well, That was an eventful few months!

It seems to be November.  I'm not entirely sure how that happened!  3 full months since my last update.  Very full months for the UK.

I can't really do any update without acknowledging the death of Queen Elizabeth II just a couple of weeks after my last post, and just 3 months after celebrating her platinum jubilee.  I'm not a royalist by any means, but it was difficult not to have a certain fondness for Elizabeth Windsor. I was surprised at the extent of my own feeling when I learned of it, and there are many in this country who mourn her loss deeply.  King Charles III has much to live up to, especially in times like these, when more and more people question the validity of a monarchy, and the rampantly unequal distribution of wealth.

There is also the fact that in the last 3 months we have had as many different Prime Ministers!  At a time when we desperately need stability, we have anything but!  More than 1 in 5 people in the UK live in poverty.  Almost 3 quarters of those households have at least one working adult.  We are the sixth largest economy in the entire world.  I do not understand how to reconcile these things.  I do not understand how our government can see these things, and yet continue to make the decisions that they do. Even though there are few members of the current governing party who haven't had a go at the premiership left by now...

Meanwhile, our split from the European Union continues to cause endless additional struggles for the British people, while benefits seem ever elusive. Russia's war on Ukraine continues, and as the weather turns colder the effects on the Ukrainian people, both those who remain in their home country, and those who have been forced to flee it, will find life harder than ever. The climate remains in crisis, and world leaders fly hundreds of miles to make pretty speeches, and promises that are entirely inadequate yet even those they know they can't keep. The football world cup takes place in a country that is entirely unsuitable in climate, human rights record, and attitude to sexuality, yet Fifa punishes only those who speak out against these injustices.

Is it any wonder then that increasingly I find myself disappearing into my hobbies?  

So, with that very swift catch up on the state of the country I live in, let's get onto the fun bit!

Finished Objects

Purple speckled jumper

This was my only work in progress during my last update, and as you can see, I have now finished it.  It fits very well, and when worn the difference in colour caused by the density of speckles in different skeins is barely noticeable. I've been too self-conscious to get any photos of me wearing it, so I do have to apologise for the poor photo.

The pattern for this is the one I created for using the mini-skeins of a yarn advent calendar, but I haven't been able to grade, or test for sale yet.

The yarn is superwash sock be Mothy and the Squid, in the colourway "Frozen Flower".

Rainbow socks

I started knitting these in August, because my only other project was the purple jumper, and that had become quite bulky to transport, but we were going to see a 15th century joust at Bolsover Castle, and I needed a project that I could knit in the car while Stephen drove us there and back, and that I could knit while watching the jousting.  Socks are always the perfect project for this sort of thing, as they're small, and simple enough that they require little attention.

The pattern is my standard sock pattern, and the yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply, in the colourway "Rum Paradise".

Hot pink bucket hat.

In the Stash Acquisition section of my last update, there was a single skein of alarmingly pink yarn.  That yarn was bought specifically to make this hat.  This hat was made because my Godson Oliver wanted a hat like the singer from the Ukrainian band that won Eurovision earlier this year. It's not exactly the same, mostly because I think that that particular hat was probably made from a woven fabric, but it's the right colour, and the right shape, so Olly loves it!

The pattern is The Gigi hat, by Margotchien, and the yarn is Cascade 220, in the colourway "Hot Pink".

Purple stripy socks

The problem with always knitting socks during our gaming sessions, is that our gaming sessions are quite long, so I find myself finishing each pair of socks remarkably quickly!  Fortunately, there is no shortage of need for socks. This particular pair kept my hands busy through the end of September, and the beginning of October.

As always, my own pattern, and the yarn is Opal Regenwald 4-fach, in the colourway "Die Diva".

Black ankle socks with purple loopy cuffs

I thought that perhaps with the rising cost of... everything, but in particular heating, it might be wise to make myself some slipper socks for especially cold nights this winter.  I have plenty of odds and ends of yarn with no particular purpose in my stash, so I used some of that, and my experience with knitting many socks, et voila!

The yarns are Rico Design Essentials Merino DK, in the colourway "Black", and Sublime Yarns Extra Fine Merino DK, in the colourway "Black Cherry".

Tiny knitted purse on a keyring

At Bakewell Wool Gathering (more on that later!), I bought a little kit from The Knitting Gift Shop to make this little notions purse, so small that it fits on a keyring.  I'm not usually fond of kits, but as it turned out, this one was exactly what I needed when my mood was at an especially low ebb a month or so back.  I couldn't face anything on my to do list, not even socks, but I could do this.  Sometimes almost immediate gratification is what is needed.

I have managed to squeeze a darning needle, tape measure, and stitch markers into this little purse, even though it is hardly bigger than a 50p piece! Fortunately I don't need to add scissors, as I wear my yarn cutter pendant almost everywhere.

Orange stripy socks

Stephen always needs new comfortable socks.  You can see in this photo how swollen his ankles can end up at the end of the day, so socks that are made especially for him really are the best.  

I chose the colours because I think they look like fire, although it turns out that they are actually based on a butterfly!

The yarn is Opal Butterfly, in the colourway "Erster Lichtblick"

Crocheted giraffe, with added cocker spaniel

Demi-Leigh loves giraffes in the way that I love penguins. Last year she sent me a photo of a crocheted giraffe, and asked if I might be able to make one.  I did warn her that my crochet skills are limited!  But I also went and found the pattern, and studied it, and eventually I actually made it.  Fortunately amigurimi is relatively simple, as it consists primarily of only one stitch, so I think I managed a reasonable approximation of how it's supposed to look. Demi was really happy with it, which is the important thing.

Finn also liked it.  I did not let him have it.

The pattern is Gregory the Giraffe, by Nannaju patterns, and the yarn is Stylecraft Special DK, in the colourways "Camel", and "Gold".

The crown of a grey ribbed beanie hat

This is an unusual angle to photograph a hat from, I know, but one ribbed beanie looks much like another, and the reason I chose this specific pattern is the way the decreases for the crown create this lovely cross pattern.  

As I had made a hat for Oliver, it was only fair that I make one for Finley as well.  Demi has played rugby for many years, and the boys, and even Gemma, have also joined her rugby club.  I thought that a close fitting beanie hat would be just the thing for keeping him warm during winter training sessions.

The pattern is Krona Hat, by Arianna Soloway, and the yarn is Caroline DK by Third Vault Yarns, in the colourway "Death".

Monochrome socks

Having made gifts for the rest of the family, it only seemed fair that I also make something for Gemma.  Gemma always loves socks, and she always loves grey, so this was an easy decision to make.  I even bought this yarn with the intention of using it to make socks for Gemma, knowing that she would love it.

The yarn is James C. Brett Funny Feetz, in the colourway "FZ04".

Grey doggy jumper

Gemma and Demi adopted a lovely little puppy called Gracie earlier this year.  She's utterly adorable!  And of course she couldn't miss out on receiving her own gift! 

Finn rarely wears his jumper, he doesn't need it to keep him warm, which I knew when I made it.  I made Finn his jumper mostly in order to keep him clean when our walks take us through mud.  The problem with that is taking the muddy jumper off when we get home spreads the dirt nearly as far as just letting him walk in the mud would have!

I think that Gracie may benefit more from hers, assuming it fits, as she's much smaller, so much more likely to feel the cold.

The pattern is Cabled Dog Sweater, by Cricket Toomy, and the yarn is James C. Brett Aztec aran, in colourway "AL10".

WIP's

Partially complete multi-coloured shawl

This is my primary project at present.  It's a shawl that I bought the pattern for at The Wool Monty earlier this year, and I'd been looking forward to making it ever since.  I have to admit that I regret that somewhat now!

It's not through any fault with the pattern, it's only that it is written line by line, but my brain struggles to follow that.  I much prefer a chart, or a set of rules I can follow. I have made so many mistakes in this that if I finish each row with a stitch count within 5 of what it should be, I am considering that a win!  So far, my mistakes don't appear to be noticeable, so much so that even I can't find where I've gone wrong in order to repair the error, so I'm hoping that means that when I cast off and it's possible to lay the entire shawl out properly the mistakes will remain invisible.

The pattern is Planar Shift Shawl, by Lola Johnson, and the yarns are Sturdy Sock by Chromatic yarns, in the colourways "Cow-moo-flage", and "Don't be a sad bear, be a happy bear!", and Companion 4-ply by Third Vault Yarns, in the colourways "Lachesis", and "Decima".

A tiny bit of sock on the needles

Another pair of socks for Stephen, and a portable project for our holiday next week.  

We always try to go away for a few days to celebrate Stephen's birthday, which is at the end of November, but last year our holiday was cancelled due to Eye-mageddon. The year before that nobody had any holidays due to Covid.  So this year we are very much looking forward to our few days away in Wales, visiting castles, and walking Finn in beautiful places.

Holidays require portable knitting for in the car when Stephen is driving, and for when I have to take a rest while exploring, and of course, we all know that socks are the ideal portable knitting project.

The yarn for this pair is Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball, in the colourway "Herbstwind".

Stash Acquisition

Deep blue and orange mini-skeins

August and September mini-skeins from the Made by Penguins Yarnologist club.  

This blue is incredible!  It's so deep and saturated, it practically glows!  I'm not the worlds greatest fan of orange, but these 2 colours go beautifully together!

3 balls of yellow/brown yarn

These were bought for making Demi's giraffe.  I confess that I went into The Foundry Works (my new LYS) and they had a crocheted giraffe very similar to the one I had a pattern for on display, so I asked Claire (the shop owner) to point me in the direction of the yarn that giraffe was made from.  My pattern said I'd need 2 balls of the lighter yarn, and one of the darker yarn, but I failed to take note of the size of the balls it was talking about.  As it turned out, one ball of the lighter colour was more than enough.  

They're all Stylecraft Special DK, and the colourways are "Camel" (the lighter yarn), and "Gold".

Bakewell Wool Gathering

As I gave The Wool Monty its own section, I think it's only fair I do the same for Bakewell Wool Gathering. I met up with Becky and Krissy when I got there, and these are the things I bought there this year:

Bakewell Wool Gathering Haul

I deliberately kept my actual yarn purchases to a minimum, as I am still trying to use more yarn than I buy this year, so the only yarn I bought was a single ball of rather garishly coloured aran, that I intend to use for creating crocheted granny squares for a long-term blanket project, and 2 highly variegated 20g mini-skeins, plus a matched pair of rainbow micro-skeins intended to create a stripe of colour in plain socks, by All Wool that End's Wool, I also bought one of their yarn cat pin badges.  The final yarn I bought was in the little kit for creating the keyring purse you saw earlier, and that did include the yarn necessary for making the purse.

My main purchase on that day though was a kit for creating a needle felted picture, plus a device with multiple needles to make felting a large area much easier.  This is from Little Gem Felts.  I haven't started on this yet, because I suspect that I'm going to need to clear space on the dining table in order to do it properly.

As well as the little purse kit, I bought a steel spiral cable needle from The Knitting Gift Shop.  I've been lusting over the sterling silver spiral cable needles by Fizzy Stitches for ages now, but with the postage costs from inside the EU being so high now (thanks Brexit), I just haven't been able to justify the cost.  The steel spiral isn't as well finished, or as smooth, but it does do the same job perfectly adequately.  As a cable needle anyway, I'm not sure I'd use this one for the alternate purpose of shawl pin.  In case you're wondering what the purpose of a spiral cable needle is, here's a photo of this one in use:

Spiral cable needle holding 3 C6F stitches

Finally, I bought another couple of pin badges from Snuggly Stars, one of a sheep, and one declaring that "Books are Magic".

However, this wasn't all that I acquired at Bakewell.  Firstly, there's a couple of extra bits in the photo above that I haven't mentioned, and that's because one of them really belongs in the photo I'm about to put below this text, and the other - hand cream - was given to me by Krissy, as she got it in a mystery goody bag that she'd bought from Rosie's Moments, but her skin is very sensitive, so she thought she'd better not risk any product she's unfamiliar with.

Goody bag contents

As this year was the 10th anniversary of the Wool Gatherings, for the first 50 people who pre-ordered their tickets online, there was a goody bag!  I thought I had ordered my ticket quite late, so I was quite surprised when I got an email the day before the event telling me that a goody bag would be waiting for me when I arrived!

I'm finding it hard to believe that it's really been 10 years since this event started!  I've been to every single one! In fact, one of my earliest of these blog posts was about my visit in 2014!

The bag itself was a sturdy tote, and mine contained a magazine, a 50g bag of black cheviot raw fleece, donated by Hawkshaw Sheep, samples of locally made fudge, bakewell slice cakes, artisan soap, wooden buttons, beading needles, bulb pins, stitch markers, button badges and a keyring with yarny slogans on them, and a ball of Lang Yarns Seta Tweed.  

Krissy also got one of these bags, and the contents of hers was very similar, but not identical.  There was supposed to be some sort of arrangement for swapping any items that weren't suitable, but that didn't actually seem to be available on the day.  This did mean that I ended up with extra beading needles and bulb pins, as Krissy doesn't use either of these things.

I had a lovely day out with my friends, chatting with other yarnies, and that was the most important thing I think.

As I've been doing in the handful of other posts I've written this year, I'm including a running total of how much yarn I've acquired, versus how much yarn I've used.  The yarn in this post amounts to 1455m, which when added to my total for the months preceding this gives me a grand total of 9355m

Ravelry thinks I have used 8773m so far this year. So I'm just 582m short of a net 0 change in the size of my stash this year, which also means I've caught up about 1700m on where I was at when I last posted.

Yarn Adjacent

In my last post I mentioned that I'd bought a French knitting dolly because I couldn't find the one that my dad had made for me many years ago. Well, since then I've been going through the last few boxes that needed to be unpacked since I moved house (I don't recommend having other people pack up 90% of your belongings for you, because it's the middle of a global pandemic, and you're not actually allowed to be in the house that you're moving out of! It vastly increases the length of time it will take you to unpack at the other end!) Anyway, I have located the French knitting device that my dad made for me!

Hand carved French knitting device

I can hardly call it a "dolly", as it was never intended to resemble a person.  However, there was a natural knot in the wood that dad carved this from, and as he sanded it to create a snag-free finish, he noticed that the knot resembled a very smiley face.  So dad being dad, he inked the mouth and eyes to make the face stand out, which turns this otherwise very smooth, but unremarkable lump of wood into something strangely anthropomorphic and utterly adorable!  Then he made a simple leather disk with holes for the pegs to go through that can be used to hold a partially completed length of cord in place without losing any stitches, and because of the little face, this bit of leather somehow appears to be a hat!

I miss him so much.

Finn

My dog is so cute, you must all admire and adore him.

Damp cocker spaniel in a doggy dressing gown

SEE!!!

Nothing is cuter than that little face!!!

Very close snoot

The snoot MUST BE BOOPED!

Boop it!

Penguins!

I doubt that any of you come here for the semi-political rants, most of you are probably here for the knitting, but if you're not here for that either, you must be here for the cute doggo photos, and the penguins.

I shall try not to disappoint.

"Space" penguins manicure

A month or so ago, Finn's Fairy Dog Mother - Boo - introduced me to Oh My Gosh nails.  They sell nail wraps, which I'd never tried, but they looked a lot quicker and easier than my standard gel manicures.  So I went to take a look and discovered this particular set of wraps.

They're called "Space Penguins", and basically they are penguins dressed up as characters from the original Star Wars films.  I love penguins.  I love Star Wars. It was a no-brainer already, but then even better, all proceeds from the sale of this particular design go to a charity called Shooting Star that works to enrich the lives of seriously ill children.  I pretty much had to get them.

Grey fleece penguin blanket

I know that buying blankets when I am in the middle of knitting or crocheting several more might seem silly, but those blankets will take ages to be finished, and they will not withstand the frequent attentions of an excitable cocker spaniel (arthritic senior dog my arse!).  Meanwhile, winter is coming, and no normal person can afford to heat their house with gay abandon this year, so blankets for the sofa are a necessity.  Fortunately for me, fleecy blankets are easily available with a penguin design on them.

Stephen has his very own fleecy sofa blanket.  It has dinosaurs on it.

Chocolate penguin biscuits

I'm fairly sure that I've had these, or something very similar to them, in previous years, and I probably shared photos of them with you then too.  How can I be expected to pass up the opportunity for little chocolate shortbread biscuits in the shape of penguins though?

Penguin stickers

In my last update I showed you a mini printer that looks like a penguin, and explained how I intended to use the stickers it produces in a sort of to do list journal.  Well, I've done exactly that!  So far I've been reasonably good at keeping it up to date too.  Using it to write my daily chores list really helps, and makes it that much easier to record other things, such as how long I've slept for, how bad my pain is each day, how bad my fatigue is each day, and how my mood is doing.  Most days I even manage a brief write up of how my day went too.

Of course the entire journal is much cheerier if I decorate it with stickers, so I bought a massive selection of penguin stickers to add to my journal.

I also added a few of them to my collection of laptop stickers:

Laptop with many stickers on it, mostly penguins

The penguin in the middle, with the mug of tea, and wearing a dressing gown, is by Kate Elford, and has been there for quite some times, but all of the other penguins came from the selection I bought for my journal.

Well, that is it for now.  I'm aware that I've been somewhat distracted at times because I had season 2 of Bridgerton on in the background while I've been writing this (I've seen it before, but it's good enough to re-watch many times), but if you include the time I spent sorting out photos before I even started, this particular update has taken me a little over 13 hours to complete.  It's currently 11:20am, and no, I have not slept.

I will be back in a few days to post my traditional pre-advent introduction to this years Advent Adventure, but I shall be in Wales for the first couple of days in Advent, so my first actual Advent post won't happen until I am home again.

Happy weekend my lovelies!